About 20 minutes after the accident, state troopers had shut down all southbound lanes, and they remained closed as of 11:45 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Preliminary reports from the Foxborough Fire Department indicated that at least one vehicle was going the wrong way on the highway and at least one person was thrown from a vehicle.

State Police said troopers were responding to reports of a driver going the wrong way in the southbound lanes of I-495 between exits 13 and 14 just before the crash.

All five of the injured were taken to either Rhode Island Hospital in Providence or Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, said Justin Alexander, chief of the Plainville Fire Department.

Alexander said about 16 firefighters from Plainville, Wrentham, and Foxborough responded to the crash, and several firefighters remained at the scene late Sunday night as state troopers investigated the accident.

The identities of the victims were not released Sunday night, and no further information on the cause of the crash, including who was at fault, was immediately available.

But a multitude of state troopers could be seen huddled in the roadway near the scene of the crash late Sunday, as crews removed debris from the roadway.

One car at the site appeared to have the entire front corner torn off.

Two others were being put on tow trucks, one a sedan with its front end crushed.

A State Police cruiser, traffic cones, and bright orange flares blocked the onramp from Route 1 to I-495 southbound. Several cars unable to get on the highway were pulled over on the side of Route 1 Sunday night.